Head to head · Agent harnesses · October 2026 research run
Sculptor vs Vibe-Trading
Vibe-Trading scores 57.8 (C) on agent readiness against Sculptor's 53.1 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent harnesses.
Best agent harnesses and coding agents · All 1500 harnesses comparisons
Which one, for what
Sculptor D
Best for Developers who want parallel coding agents in isolated workspaces and are fine with a research preview.
Also in its favour
- No incidents deducted, where Vibe-Trading loses 9 points for them
Watch for
Labelled an experimental research preview that may change drastically
Best for A person or a pipeline that wants a ready-made finance research agent over free market data, with backtests, swarm reviews and exports, run on their own machine or used as an MCP server by another agent.
Ahead on
- Reliability, 63 against 43
- Schema & documentation, 72 against 45
- Agent ergonomics, 67 against 50
- Security & auth, 70 against 57
- Maintenance & community, 82 against 75
Also in its favour
- Runs on your own machine
- Free to start without a card
Watch for
Three advisories published 2 October 2026 cover 0.1.0 to 0.1.6, two critical, and 0.1.16's email TLS and cross-site fixes got no advisory
Why the edge
Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.
Schema & documentation Vibe-Trading +27
Sculptor 45
Harness reading. A README, specs and agent docs in the repository; no API reference (45).
Vibe-Trading 72
Harness reading of the lines, as for nanobot. The MCP server's tools take typed JSON Schema inputs generated from Python signatures through FastMCP, with a string output schema, and the API server serves FastAPI's OpenAPI file locally (keyless on loopback, behind the key otherwise). No published OpenAPI file or tool manifest outside the running program (20 of 25). No llms.txt on vibetrading.wiki, where /llms.txt redirects to the home page, and the docs are drawn by script from content.en.js. The repository carries Markdown READMEs in seven languages and an agent skill file, agent/SKILL.md (5 of 10). Tool descriptions say what each does, its arguments and what to call first, such as list_skills() before load_skill. The server's own header says every tool is read-only apart from refresh_strategy_evidence, while write_file is also exposed (14 of 20). Inputs are typed, but many choices are free strings (protocol, risk_tier, format) and several take free dictionaries (8 of 15). Many worked examples in the README and a troubleshooting page that names failure states such as no_progress and the 403 from another device; tool errors come back as JSON with an error_type (12 of 15). Dated CHANGELOG.md, GitHub release tags and versioned docs, though the docs still name 0.1.16 as latest (13 of 15).
Reliability Vibe-Trading +20
Sculptor 43
Local software. Desktop downloads for Mac (Apple Silicon), Linux and Linux ARM64 (20). checks.yml and a PR gate run on the repository; pass state not read (15). GitHub issues and pull requests weren't read (GitHub's pages refuse these sessions), so that line is scored absent (0). sculptor-v tags up to v0.49.0, no changelog file (8). 0.x and labelled a research preview (0). 20 + 15 + 0 + 8 + 0 = 43.
Vibe-Trading 63
Read with the local-software lines, as for nanobot and Agent Zero, since the owner runs it. vibe-trading-ai installs from PyPI for Python 3.11 or newer, with classifiers for 3.11 to 3.13, and a Docker Compose setup ships in the repository (20). A CI workflow runs the test suite on pushes and pull requests to main, with hash-locked dependency checks on Linux, macOS and Windows, and the repository holds 961 test files. Whether the latest runs on main passed couldn't be read, because GitHub's Actions pages weren't reachable (15 of 25). The repository page showed 7 open issues and 57 open pull requests on 25 October 2026, per that check (GitHub's pages answer 403 on 2 November), against 771 commits in the 30 days to 2 November, and the 0.1.18 notes list two known issues already fixed on main. Issue threads weren't read (18 of 25). CHANGELOG.md says it follows Semantic Versioning, with dated entries from 0.1.8, a Known issues section and an upgrade note for the LangChain 1.x move in 0.1.10, but on 0.x breaking changes ride in minor versions and there is no Breaking section (10 of 15). Version 0.1.18 with the classifier Development Status 4, Beta (0).
Agent ergonomics Vibe-Trading +17
Sculptor 50
Harness reading. Workspaces as isolated copies, review and merge back, and built-in skills (50).
Vibe-Trading 67
Harness reading, scored on what an agent or script driving it has to supply. The MCP server registers 82 tools, with about 44,300 characters of descriptions across the 71 defined in the server file, and no toolsets or read-only subset (5). Since 0.1.18 the built-in agent loads tool schemas on demand, and skills load by section and offset, which keeps its own context smaller (plus 7, 12 of 25). Rows are capped by default, read_run_artifact pages by offset, row count and columns, oversized results are written to the run directory, the agent stops after eight tool iterations without a new result, and goals take token, turn and time budgets (18 of 20). JSON error envelopes with a type, a --json mode for vibe-trading run and a troubleshooting page, with no documented exit codes (15 of 20). No readOnlyHint or destructiveHint annotations on MCP tools. An identical call is refused from its second failure, failed swarm runs resume with completed tasks kept, interrupted web replies are checkpointed and TAP-routed Alpaca orders carry a deterministic client_order_id (12 of 20). pip install and vibe-trading init start it, market data works with no key, and a model key, Ollama or an existing Codex, Copilot or Claude Code login is required. Python only, with a REST API and no SDK in a second language (10 of 15).
Security & auth Vibe-Trading +13
Sculptor 57
Harness reading. Product analytics, error reporting and session recording default to off in the user config, and the app asks for a telemetry level and privacy consent at first run; PostHog runs on the front end only for now (25 of 30). Each workspace is an isolated copy of the code (14 of 20). No prompt-injection guidance (5). No audit log (5). SECURITY.md (8). 25 + 14 + 5 + 5 + 8 = 57.
Vibe-Trading 70
Harness reading used for nanobot and goose. 30 for what leaves the machine by default, 20 for approvals and sandboxing, 15 for prompt-injection posture, 15 for audit and 20 for the security programme. No telemetry code was found in the source at v0.1.18, and the only call to PyPI is the owner-run vibe-trading update. The API answers only loopback clients without API_AUTH_KEY, Docker binds 127.0.0.1 and runs as user vibe, and the MCP HTTP transport binds 127.0.0.1 with a Host and Origin allow-list against DNS rebinding but no token. Broker keys go to the OS keyring; model keys sit in agent/.env in clear text. The docs carry no statement that nothing is collected (24). Live orders need a mandate that only the owner commits through the web UI or API, with hard caps and a kill switch, and an optional TAP mode waits for human approval of each Alpaca write. No order tool is exposed over MCP, and shell tools are off on the API and every MCP transport unless enabled. The local CLI runs bash and file writes without asking, and generated backtest code runs as a network-capable subprocess with a narrowed environment and no sandbox (13). Reader and search tools add warning-only security_warnings from regex rules, and external MCP tool hints are treated as untrusted in the source. The claude-cli provider's tool filters are described as convenience filters, not a boundary (9). A live-action ledger written append-only with a hash-chained copy, run cards with hashed execution records, tool traces and per-run token usage (13). SECURITY.md with private advisory reporting and a five-business-day acknowledgement. Three advisories were published on 2 October 2026 with CVE identifiers, five months after the 0.1.7 fix, while the email TLS and cross-site settings fixes in 0.1.16 got none. No security.txt and no bounty (11). 24+13+9+13+11 = 70.
Maintenance & community Vibe-Trading +7
Sculptor 75
Commits on 6 November 2026 and frequent tagged versions (30). More than three releases in 90 days (20). GitHub issues and pull requests weren't read (GitHub's pages refuse these sessions), so that line is scored absent; the README says Imbue can't take many outside contributions yet (0). Current official downloads (15). CI on pull requests (10). 30 + 20 + 0 + 15 + 10 = 75.
Vibe-Trading 82
v0.1.18 was tagged on 21 October 2026, 12 days before this check (30). Six releases in the 90 days from 4 August, 0.1.13 (tag 10 August) to 0.1.18, from the repository's tags; PyPI couldn't be read on 2 November (20). 771 commits on main in the 30 days to 2 November, 233 of them after v0.1.18, the last on 2 November; the 25 October repository page showed 7 open issues and 57 open pull requests, not re-read. Issue and pull request threads weren't read, a judgement call (18 of 25). An MCP server that isn't in the official MCP registry (searches for vibe-trading and hkuds on 2 November 2026 found nothing). It is published on PyPI, as a Docker setup and on ClawHub (5 of 15). Hash-locked requirements checked in CI on three operating systems, Dependabot set to monthly, and dependency floors raised for named CVEs, most recently on 29 October (9 of 10). 30+20+18+5+9 = 82.
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | Sculptor | Vibe-Trading | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 43 | 63 | Vibe-Trading +20 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 45 | 72 | Vibe-Trading +27 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 50 | 67 | Vibe-Trading +17 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 57 | 70 | Vibe-Trading +13 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 60 | 60 | even |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 75 | 82 | Vibe-Trading +7 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 57 | 53 | Sculptor +4 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -9 | |
| Total | D 53.1/100 | C 57.8/100 |
Facts side by side
| Fact | Sculptor | Vibe-Trading |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Imbue, Inc. | HKUDS |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | stdio, Streamable HTTP, SSE (legacy) | |
| Auth | None | None |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| Tools exposed | none | 82 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-11-06 | 2026-10-21 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Popularity | none | 37k stars |
How the scores have moved
Sculptor
No score change since it was listed.
Verdicts
Sculptor
Imbue's open-source app for parallel coding agents in isolated workspaces, with telemetry off until you choose otherwise. It's an experimental research preview that warns of bugs and drastic changes, Mac and Linux only, with no changelog.
Vibe-Trading
Vibe-Trading runs on the owner's machine under the MIT licence, ships near-daily fixes with a dated changelog, and keeps order tools out of its MCP server, with live orders gated by an owner-committed mandate. Three advisories, two critical, covered versions before 0.1.7, a 0.1.16 credential fix got no advisory, and the local CLI runs shell commands without asking.
Before you call either
Sculptor
- Download from the README's links, connect a repository and create a workspace before prompting
- Review the diff before merging a workspace back to main
Vibe-Trading
- Run 0.1.16 or later. Earlier versions carry three published advisories, including unauthenticated API access with an RCE chain, and send the email password without checking TLS certificates
- Set
API_AUTH_KEYbefore exposingvibe-trading servebeyond localhost, and send it asAuthorization: Bearer <key> - Set
VIBE_TRADING_ALLOWED_RUN_ROOTSin the MCP client'senvblock; a shellexportdoes not reach the spawned server - Use
vibe-trading run -p "..." --jsonfor headless runs, and add--enable-shell-toolstovibe-trading-mcponly when shell access is needed - Treat text from
read_url,web_searchandread_documentas untrusted;security_warningsflags patterns but does not remove them
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, Sculptor or Vibe-Trading?
Vibe-Trading scores 57.8 (C) on agent readiness against Sculptor's 53.1 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.
Are Sculptor and Vibe-Trading open source?
Yes. Sculptor is open source (MIT). Vibe-Trading is open source (MIT).
Other comparisons with Sculptor or Vibe-Trading
- Agent Zero vs Sculptor
- Agent Zero vs Vibe-Trading
- Aider vs Sculptor
- Aider vs Vibe-Trading
- Amp vs Sculptor
- Amp vs Vibe-Trading
- Antigravity CLI vs Sculptor
- Antigravity CLI vs Vibe-Trading
- Auggie CLI vs Sculptor
- Auggie CLI vs Vibe-Trading
- AXLR vs Sculptor
- AXLR vs Vibe-Trading
- Claude Code vs Sculptor
- Claude Code vs Vibe-Trading
- Cline vs Sculptor
- Cline vs Vibe-Trading
- Conductor vs Sculptor
- Conductor vs Vibe-Trading
- Crush vs Sculptor
- Crush vs Vibe-Trading
- Cursor CLI vs Sculptor
- Cursor CLI vs Vibe-Trading
- DeepSeek Harness (dsh) vs Sculptor
- DeepSeek Harness (dsh) vs Vibe-Trading
- dsh-superagent (DeepSeek) vs Sculptor
- dsh-superagent (DeepSeek) vs Vibe-Trading
- Devin vs Sculptor
- Devin vs Vibe-Trading
- Droid CLI vs Sculptor
- Droid CLI vs Vibe-Trading
- Pi vs Sculptor
- Pi vs Vibe-Trading
- Emdash vs Sculptor
- Emdash vs Vibe-Trading
- Gemini CLI vs Sculptor
- Gemini CLI vs Vibe-Trading
- GitHub Copilot CLI vs Sculptor
- GitHub Copilot CLI vs Vibe-Trading
- goose vs Sculptor
- goose vs Vibe-Trading
- Harness² vs Sculptor
- Harness² vs Vibe-Trading
- HarnessRouter vs Sculptor
- HarnessRouter vs Vibe-Trading
- Jules vs Sculptor
- Jules vs Vibe-Trading
- Junie CLI vs Sculptor
- Junie CLI vs Vibe-Trading
- Kilo Code CLI vs Sculptor
- Kilo Code CLI vs Vibe-Trading
- Kimi Code CLI vs Sculptor
- Kimi Code CLI vs Vibe-Trading
- Kiro CLI vs Sculptor
- Kiro CLI vs Vibe-Trading
- Letta vs Sculptor
- Letta vs Vibe-Trading
- mini-swe-agent vs Sculptor
- mini-swe-agent vs Vibe-Trading
- MiniMax Code vs Sculptor
- MiniMax Code vs Vibe-Trading
- Mistral Vibe CLI vs Sculptor
- Mistral Vibe CLI vs Vibe-Trading
- Muse Code vs Sculptor
- Muse Code vs Vibe-Trading
- OpenAI Agents API vs Sculptor
- OpenAI Agents API vs Vibe-Trading
- OpenAI Codex vs Sculptor
- OpenAI Codex vs Vibe-Trading
- OpenCode vs Sculptor
- OpenCode vs Vibe-Trading
- OpenHands vs Sculptor
- OpenHands vs Vibe-Trading
- Orca vs Sculptor
- Orca vs Vibe-Trading
- Paseo vs Sculptor
- Paseo vs Vibe-Trading
- Prime Agent vs Sculptor
- Prime Agent vs Vibe-Trading
- Qoder CLI vs Sculptor
- Qoder CLI vs Vibe-Trading
- Qwen Code vs Sculptor
- Qwen Code vs Vibe-Trading
- Mirror CLI vs Sculptor
- Mirror CLI vs Vibe-Trading
- Rovo Dev CLI vs Sculptor
- Rovo Dev CLI vs Vibe-Trading
- Sculptor vs T3 Code
- Sculptor vs Traycer
- Sculptor vs Unstoppable
- Sculptor vs Verdent
- Sculptor vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)
- T3 Code vs Vibe-Trading
- Traycer vs Vibe-Trading
- Verdent vs Vibe-Trading
- Vibe-Trading vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)
- Clawboo vs Sculptor
- Clawboo vs Vibe-Trading
- CLI Manager vs Sculptor
- CLI Manager vs Vibe-Trading
- Harness vs Sculptor
- Harness vs Vibe-Trading
- OpenMausBot vs Sculptor
- OpenMausBot vs Vibe-Trading
- Paperclip vs Sculptor
- Paperclip vs Vibe-Trading
- Parallax vs Sculptor
- Parallax vs Vibe-Trading
- Unstoppable vs Vibe-Trading
Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/sculptor-vs-vibe-trading.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/sculptor.json·/api/v1/tools/vibe-trading.json - From a terminal
anchor compare sculptor vibe-trading(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "sculptor", "b": "vibe-trading"}at/mcp, no key